


Five Lifetimes of Happiness

by QueenPunk



Category: Bleach
Genre: Angst, Anti-686, Bittersweet, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Love, Multiple Lives, Multiverse, careers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8119213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenPunk/pseuds/QueenPunk
Summary: Four lives she could have chosen to blossom into and one where she is just beginning to bloom.





	

I. A Lifetime of Seeing

Orihime worried the eraser on her pencil between her teeth, glaring at the question on her laptop screen. She knew this, she knew that she knew this. She just had to dig a little deeper.

She stared at the screen a few more minutes, imagining laser beams destroying the laptop. And then her University. And then the world.

Frustrated, Orihime slammed the computer shut with a pout. Stupid Organic Chemistry questions. Stupid class she had to take to get into stupid Medical School. Lately, all she had been doing was staying locked up in her room and studying nonstop. She missed the feel of the warm sun on her skin. She missed interacting with people and eating street food. She wanted to feel the sand between her toes and the sea lapping at her ankles. She wanted to swim with dolphins.

Abruptly she stood up, stretching her tired muscles before wandering into the natural lighting of their kitchen. 

Her fiance stood with his back to her, chopping up vegetables with militaristic precision for lunch. Orihime crept up behind him, wrapping her arms loosely around his middle. She pressed her face against the back of his neck, blowing a stream of air to demand extra attention.

“Honeybuns,” she started, her voice sugary sweet.

“No.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say!” protested Orihime, scandalized. She wrapped her arms tighter around him, gripping her forearms with her opposite hands. Happily, she rubbed her pinkie finger against her engagement band, feeling the grooves of carved flowers in the silver. The band was still so new on her person that she constantly felt it as a reminder of their love. 

He had designed every centimeter of it–from the filigree of flowers that looked like her hairpins, to the sapphire stones inlaid in the center, and to the secret inscription inside the inner part of the ring.

It was beautiful. It was precious. It was everything she never knew she wanted and so much more.

“You want to go to the beach,” Uryu stated, dropping the knife in his hand to adjust his glasses, “but you need to study for your upcoming exam. I will not be an accessory to your self-sabotage.”

“I’ll bring my materials–”

“You’ll forget about them or destroy them in the water.”

“No, I won’t,” she said, reaching up to blow a raspberry into the back of his neck. He chuckled and tried to struggle away from her, he grasped her arms and tried to unwind them. Orihime persistently clung on, swinging a leg around to hook over his knee. She threw the full weight of her body against him, trapping Uryu against the marble countertop. 

“You’re my prisoner now!” she crowed and he laughed out loud, wriggling around in her grip. “I’ll never let you go unless you take me to the beach right this instant!”

Between catching his breath, he managed to wheeze out, “Never, you dastardly fiend! I’ll die before I let you flunk out of getting into Med School.”

“Pleeeeeeaaaaseee,” she whined.

“No.”

“I’ll go without you.”

“I won’t stop you, but I’m not going to support this. When people call you Dr. Inoue you’ll thank me.”

She frowned petulantly. Orihime hadn’t wanted to whip out the big guns for this argument, but she felt that her stubborn fiance was leaving her with no choice.

She stood on his tiptoes, her lips brushing his ear. His laughter cut off with a strangled inhale. 

“Orihime,” he warned, voice low.

She smiled, shifting her shoulders in a tantalizing gesture. “I’ll wear that new bathing suit you designed for me.”

“That is underhanded,” Uryu muttered. 

“Yes, today will be a perfect day to debut that itty-bitty blue and white polka dot bikini,” Orihime sang to an off-beat melody of her own making.She did a little awkward dance against his back, running her hands up and down his chest and sides as she sang the little chant a few more times, like the chorus of a bad commercial.

He took in a deep breath and she held hers, waiting for the verdict like a murderer on trial.

“Grab the bikini and your books. We’re going to the beach.”

Orihime squealed and kissed him on the cheek before racing into their bedroom to pack.

Uryu fell to one knee in despair, watching helplessly as she pranced away. 

“I am so weak,” he lamented, heart heavy with the amount of love he felt for the dizzy woman singing in the other room.

But, truth be told, Uryu was content to be weak for her for the rest of his life. He was just happy to be caught in the light of her smile.

****************************************************************************************************

II. A Lifetime of Evolving

She sat regally, her shoulders set and spine straightened. Her dark brown eyes surveyed the court below her–ambassadors like she had once been from another realm of existence. The white stone of her throne glistened under the light of the curved edged moon. She smiled and they all stiffened–for it was a kind smile and they were unsure whether a legend such as Inoue Orihime was capable of kindness.

“Please, relax,” she laughed merrily, open mouthed and carefree. A few of the ambassadors would later swear that her hairpins had glowed with a sinister orange light as she laughed–was she making them relax? Her powers and abilities were lost to the winds of time or carefully guarded by the Captains of the Soul Society. It all depended on the tale one was told.

“I won’t hurt you.”

She stood up in one graceful motion, the folds of her blue dress falling to modestly cover her curvaceous body. Her auburn hair ran like a red river down her back, ornate braids weaved into the thick locks with vibrant flowers scattered throughout. 

She lifted her dress a few inches, one slender foot extending carelessly into the thin air. As she proceeded down, an orange glasslike step appeared just as she would have tumbled to her possible death. 

When she finally descended onto the cool marble floor, she once again stared at the shinigami before her, a strange melancholic expression on her beautiful face.

A thousand years she had lived her and looking at the black of their shihakushos, she felt the stirrings of her youth in her heart. Fond memories of battles and laughter and first loves ran through her mind.

“Abarai-soutaicho sent you, yes? What does he want from the Court of Las Noches?”

The leader of the group swallowed down his fear and set his jaw stubbornly. While they conducted business, she noted the shade of his eyes and the scowl on his lips. A Kurosaki, she presumed. Maybe a descendant of the one who set her on this path. Maybe one of his sisters. In the end, it didn’t really matter, they were all of the same vein of behavior. 

“I’ll be sure to pass along the Head Captain’s concerns to Halibel-same,” she promised as they concluded. “We’re terribly sorry she was unable to speak with you today, but she had to interfere in the quarreling of two clans.”

The message having been received, they prepared for the trip back to the Soul Society. She watched them disappear into the blackness of the garganta, wondering if maybe she should schedule a visit. It had been so long since she had seen Renji and Toshiro and Yoruichi. Last time she had visited, Yoruichi’s kids had just figured out how to transform into kittens. The youngest one had tried to stow away into her robe when she returned.

They would be grown now, maybe even Soul Reapers. Where had the time gone?

She stepped out onto the balcony in her room. She curled a red strand of hair around her index finger, leaning against the railing. White sand stretched out before her, dipping into waves and rippling with the weight of the wind. Cutting into the black of the sky, white spires of settlements rose proudly over the once desolate landscape. She remembered helping lay the bricks of the foundations for many of them, fighting away the beasts that dared to trespass. Her newly found comrades, standing beside her–all warriors of equal value and caliber that looked to her for direction.

She had loved every second of it. Being a commander to a place that had once been her prison had been the strangest, most liberating thing to ever happen to her.

The door opened and shut behind her–the sound was a courtesy since he knew that she hated to be snuck up on.

His shoulder brushed hers as he came to stand beside her. “Are you enjoying the view, woman?”

She turned her head and was enraptured once again by the emerald of his eyes, so brilliant against the white and black of his face and hair. She remembered a time when she thought she would never see his face again. She remembered thinking that he had been lost to the sands in the wind, taking a piece of her heart that she had thought she would never have a chance to explore.

She smiled, no trace of melancholy or nostalgia crossing her mind. Just pure happiness radiated in her soul and her heart.

“I am now.”

****************************************************************************************************

III. A Lifetime of Creating 

“Do you think I should use bean paste to decorate the cake?” Orihime asked, licking icing off of her thumb. 

“No. That’s disgusting,” Riruka said, glad she had hidden the bean paste earlier. “That cake is for a customer, not to satisfy your weird cravings.”

“My cravings aren’t weird,” Orihime said cheerfully. “They’re unique!”

Riruka adjusted her cute apron, setting her tray of cute parfaits into the cute display case. Orihime carefully navigated around the decorating table. She grasped one of Riruka’s hands and lifted it up. Then, she carefully deposited a dollop of pink frosting onto her wife’s fingertip. 

Riruka sucked her icing-tipped finger in her mouth, smiling happily at the taste. “It’s a good thing we’re closed now or else we might get in trouble for health violations.”

Orihime giggled, nodding in agreement, pointing slyly at Riruka’s teeth, “Your teeth are pink.”

“So are yours,” Riruka pointed out, running her tongue obstinately over her stained teeth. “I’m going to brush my teeth. Watch the oven, I’ve got a batch of blueberry cupcakes in there.”

Riruka tried to walk past Orihime to head upstairs into their apartment, but Orihime caught her around the middle and lifted her up off of the ground. Riruka squeaked, still surprised by how strong Orihime really was. 

“Noooo,” Orihime protested and pouted. “You look really cute with pink teeth! It matches our theme!”

Riruka looked into Orihime’s imploring brown eyes–they reminded her of hot French chocolate, liquid and not yet cooled into a precise shape. Orihime was looking earnestly at her, a small flush on her cheeks. Riruka looked to the side, scratching nonchalantly as she muttered, “Fine, I won’t. But it’s only because I think you’ll burn the cupcakes if I leave.”

“You’re so funny, Riruka,” observed Orihime, smiling. She brought up a hand to cup one of Riruka’s blushing cheeks. “I really love that about you.”

She gave a quick peck to Riruka’s lips and started to pull away so she could return to decorating. Riruka reached around and placed her hands behind Orihime’s neck, silky strands of hair catching between her slender fingers. She deepened the kiss to Orihime’s hum of delight. 

The kiss was simple and sweet, the taste of sugar dusting their lips and tongues. Orihime’s hands wandered, feeling the soft dips and subtle curves of Riruka’s body. They settled at Riruka’s back, the sharp planes of her shoulder blades. Orihime tried to press them closer despite certain difficulties. She considered how Riruka would react if she suggested opening late. 

Riruka pulled away slightly with a small gasp, Orihime chased the arch of her neck, placing insistent kisses at her pulse point. 

“We should stop,” Riruka panted, her pupils blown wide and black. “The cafe is supposed to open in two minutes and we still have orders to complete.”

“I know,” Orihime said, her kisses turning open mouthed and hot, teeth and tongue playing against the heat of her skin.

“Orihime,” she squirmed against her wife, finally prying herself out of Orihime’s wicked clutches. Immediately, she felt the absence of Orihime’s body, but the lightheaded feeling she felt started to abate.

“We have to stick to a schedule,” Riruka huffed. “Like responsible adults.”

“Responsible adults,” Orihime echoed, mockingly serious. Riruka took a step back as Orihime teasingly reached for her again. She held up a hand in warning and repeated, “Responsible adults.”

“We can be responsible in a few minutes.”

“A few minutes?” Riruka squawked. “How dare you? I am so worth more than a few minutes!”

“Oh, really?” Orihime asked coyly, fluttering her impossibly long eyelashes. “Whatever could we do with more than a few minutes?”

Riruka pointed a firm finger at Orihime, saying the phrase like a chant to ward off evil, “Responsible adults.”

Orihime sighed, “Okay. I know, I know.”

The timer for the blueberry cupcakes went off, cutting through the charged energy in the room.

Riruka warily turned her back on her wife. She slipped her bunny print oven mitts on and opened the oven, a wave of intense heat fanning over her face and shoulders. She bent over and grasped the tray, being extra careful so as not to accidentally touch the golden tops of the cupcakes. 

She was just starting to straighten back up when a light squeeze was given to her behind. She glanced behind her to see Orihime walking away, trying to hold in her laughter. 

Riruka sighed, setting the tray down and reaching back in for the other tray. “Aren’t your hormones supposed to start cooling down by now?”

“I dunno,” Orihime shrugged, absently rubbing her bulging belly. “But the doctor said every pregnancy is different and so far mine has been the easiest he’s ever seen.”

Of course, Kurosaki-san could have been lying to her to alleviate the fears she had expressed. While kind, she felt that he had a very suspicious face. Riruka had wanted to go to a different doctor–one that wasn’t associated with the Soul Society, but, in the end, their worries over a super powered baby meant that their options were very limited. 

“Horniest maybe,” said Riruka, crinkling her nose as the ugly word passed her lips.

“Ah, well, yes,” Orihime agreed, her cheeks pink and Riruka wanted to capture that exact color to put it in their son’s nursery. So that he would absorb the cuteness that his mother so easily exhibited. “I guess that is true.”

They worked in silence for a few minutes. Orihime waddled to the front of the store, flipping the sign to the ‘Open’ side. Riruka painstakingly put swirls of blue icing onto the blueberry cupcakes. Once she was finished, she set the icing bag to the side and rooted through the decorations drawer. 

Riruka froze.

Orihime held her breath, nervously fiddling with the straps of her hot pink apron. She tried to explain, voice soft and gentle, “I bought them a few days ago. I was hoping we could use them for the baby shower if you wanted.”

Riruka pulled out a tiny bag filled with cupcake toppers. They were all an inch and half tall, little chibi animals–lions, bunnies, monkeys, elephants, and puppies–were curled around blue and pink baby bottles. Inlaid in the bottles were faux crystals, surrounding the kanji for their son’s name.

She raised a trembling hand, tracing the white letters through the plastic of the bag. 

Orihime walked over, laying her hand over Riruka’s, an adoring smile on her lips.

“Our little Natsuhiko,” Orihime murmured, grabbing Riruka’s free hand and guiding it towards her belly. Their son nudged against his mothers’ hands and both of them smiled in awe, at a loss for words.

“They’re adorable,” Riruka said, happy tears starting to fill her eyes.

Orihime laughed, tears filling her own eyes as she choked out, “Don’t start crying, Riruka-chan. You know I cry when you cry!”

“I don’t care,” Riruka sobbed, her mascara running down her cheeks. She pulled Orihime into a loving embrace. They peppered kisses across each other’s faces, wiping away the flood of tears. 

“Three more months,” Riruka whispered, spreading her hands across the globe of Orihime’s belly.

“Three more months,” Orihime whispered, resting her hands on the top of her belly.

Natsuhiko, she thought. Know that you are loved. Know that you are wanted. Know that your mothers can’t wait to meet you. 

****************************************************************************************************

IIII. A Lifetime of Continuing

Orihime crouched low, twirling her sword in her hand, the flower shaped guard a blue blur. She smiled as the enemies drew near, crooking a finger at the nearest foe.

“Come and get me,” she dared the ninja.

Her opponent rushed forth and started stabbing at her with their dual swords. She leaped, ducked, and narrowly evading being eviscerated by the deadly weapons. She gave one mighty upswing of her sword, catching the ninja underneath the chin, grazing them. As they started to rush into her opening, she twisted and lodged her blade into the meat of their shoulder.

Orihime jumped back, keeping the tip of her sword pointed at them. The ninja stepped forward, murderous intent in their gaze, but then–their eyes widening with shock–they were brought to their knees. Their breathing started to become labored and panicked as their arms fell to their sides, swords clattering to the ground.

“You feel it now, don’t you? Orihime asked, tilting her sword to catch the light, highlighting its sharp blade. Blood ran in rivulets down its length. “The poison-laced on my sword? You should be losing all ability to stay upright now.”

The ninja collapsed face first into the dirt.

“Don’t worry,” Orihime said cheerfully to the unconscious body in front of her. “It won’t kill you, but you’ll have a really bad headache when you wake up!”

She spun on her heel and skipped into the woods, the other ninjas having disappeared. She paused at a tree that had bright pink fruit similar to a peach. Orihime snapped one off of a branch, digging her nails into the soft flesh, a clear fluid leaking from the fruit. She took a bite and tasted the sugary sweetness of a fresh donut.

“Orihime! Orihime!” a familiar voice called out. Orihime followed the direction the voice had come from. 

Orihime came to the edge of a small river made of coffee-milk. Balanced on several chocolate rocks along the bank were three beautiful mermaids. One of them was curvy and longer in length with bright blue eyes and a charcoal grey tail. The one to the right of her was small and childlike, with seafoam green hair and a mottled green, white and black tail. The third mermaid was slender and delicate with large violet eyes, her black hair framing her face like the night sky around the moon. Her tail was deceptively white until it caught in the light of the sun which revealed the cool blue and lilac undertones in the scales.

Rangiku noticed her staring at them and lifted her hand up to wave her over, “Orihime! Orihime! We’re over here! Come join us!”

She hurried over to the group of mermaids, nearly tripping in her haste. The coffee-milk lapped at her toes as she stood next to the tallest chocolate rock. Nell was chewing on her fins, cutting into the thin membrane and healing it with her spit over and over. Rukia had a white moon in one hand and a blackened sun in the other, juggling them with intense concentration. Rangiku chatted amiably with Orihime–the words falling from their mouths but nothing concrete.

Three passed with them under the rock, the world changing from forest to city to wasteland to ocean with each passing second. 

Orihime and the mermaids were in the middle of playing poker with a disgruntled blue kitty when a bear charged out from behind a tall building, machine guns in paw. 

The mermaids and the blue kitty disappeared. Orihime broke off a piece of chocolate and popped it into her mouth. It needed bean paste.

“Orhime,” the bear said, gripping her by he shoulders, shaking her aggressively. “Orihime.”

“What?” Orihime asked, confused as to why the bear was shaking her and repeating her name. “What do you want Bear-san? And where did the mermaids and kitty go? They stole all my money, too!”

“Orihime, it’s time to wake up,” the bear said. “And what sort of weird dreams are you having? I thought you grew out of that years ago.”

The bear patted her face, paws rough on her cheeks. “C’mon, you’ve gotta get up. You have a class to teach.”

Slowly, the fur fell away from the bear’s face, the sagging pink skin morphing into a humanoid shape. The paws became softer; hands with thick callouses. Eventually, Orihime was blinking awake, the early light of morning piercing her eyes and she was staring up into Tatsuki’s face. 

“Where’d the bear go?” muttered Orihime, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“He went back into the woods,” Tatsuki said, flatly. “Y’know where bears belong?”

Tatsuki crawled off the bed, Orihime shortly following, her aching joints popping with ever step. She stretched gave Tatsuki a good morning kiss on the cheek and then walked into the bathroom.

She frowned a little at her reflection, picking at the silver strands in her hair. She wished her hair had turned prematurely white like Tatsuki’s instead of being a pattern of salt and pepper. The red in her hair was still trying to fight off the invasion of old age.She felt that she would look much more dignified with white hair.

“I made breakfast!” shouted Tatsuki from their kitchen.

“Chocolate chip pancakes?” Orihime shouted back, slipping into one of her work dresses–one of her favorites, it had a nearly faded handprint from when she allowed her kindergarteners to fingerpaint. Two words: Never. Again.

“No! Donuts!”

“That sounds great!” Orihime yelled, putting a few coats of mascara on. She stepped back from the mirror, giving herself a quick scan before smiling at her reflection. “You look great. Time to teach future generations.”

When she walked into the kitchen, Tatsuki was already seated at the table, her reading glasses on as she read the sports section of the newspaper. In the center of the table was an artfully arranged bowl filled with glazed donuts. Orihime sat across from her partner, setting five donuts on her plate, “Thank you for making these. You must have been up really early, huh?”

“I didn’t really sleep well last night,” Tatsuki said, rubbing absently at her shoulder.

“Oh, no,” Orihime gasped, worried. “Did you have a bad dream?”

“No, did you?”

Orihime shrugged, “I dunno. I don’t remember what I was dreaming about. I remember a naked bear with machine guns and an angry blue kitty, but that doesn’t really make much sense, does it?”

Tatsuki hummed in agreement. They sat in comfortable, familiar silence for a few minutes. Orihime stared out the window, at the garden they had lovingly cultivated together. Beautiful butterflies flittered about the newly opened spring flowers. Beams of sunlight caught on the morning dew, giving the outside world an ethereal appearance.

“What are you planning for your cookie-crunchers for today?” Tatsuki asked fondly. She was always stopping by Orihime’s school with treats for the little ones and they adored both Arisawas immensely.

Orihime eagerly launched into her lesson plan for the day.

They enjoyed the peace of the morning like they had for thirty years. Together.

****************************************************************************************************

V. A Lifetime of Lifetimes

In a small first grade classroom, a little girl with flaming auburn hair sat in her desk, humming and kicking her feet in the air. Spread out across her desk were an array of crayons resting over an endless count of paper, Each paper depicted a different squiggly, brightly colored scene.

She grabbed a yellow that reminded her of the color of sunshine and added a few extra touches to the one that she was currently working on. She worked on it until it was just right on the page.

Her teacher wandered over and he asked, “Orihime, you’re supposed to be drawing what you want to be when you grow up. What is all this?”

“What I want to be when I grow up,” the little girl replied, looking up at him with a beaming smile.

He looked over the childish drawings. One showed a doctor, stethoscope in her ears. The second depicted a general giving a snappy salute to her troops. The third was of a chef, the white hat comically large on her head. The fourth one had a teacher surrounded by a circle of children that were all holding hands. 

Those were just the ones he could see, as there were more piled underneath them and she was already working on another one.

“You’re enthusiasm is great, Orihime, but you can’t be all of these things. Why don’t you pick one to present to the class?”

“No,” the little girl shook her head, red hair flying around her face like a flickering halo. “ I am gonna be all of these things.”

“Orihime, that’s impossible.”

She ignored him and continued to dream away about the lives she could experience..

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are equivalent to giving a starving artist fresh baked cookies! Tell me what you think!


End file.
